Advancing Health Information Exchange: AI/ML, Social Needs, and Cybersecurity Trends

Summary

Objective: Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), social needs data, and cybersecurity are shaping the clinical and business environments that utilize and engage with health information exchange (HIE).

Methods: We reviewed the English language literature indexed in PubMed and Web of Science between 01/2019 and 11/2024. Articles were identified using the “health information exchange” MeSH major topic and as a phrase within titles and abstracts in combination with titles and keywords of the three topic areas. All three authors reviewed all full text articles for inclusion and excluded those that did not address HIE or our three emergent topics. From the full text, we extracted relevant themes and insights about the application of HIE.

Results: Articles on the application and role of AI/ML in HIE (n=12) were focused on using HIE data in AI/ML modeling or in applying AI/ML to information exchange technology process. Articles on social needs (n=13) included the themes of using individual-level or area-level social needs data in conjunction with data from HIE for research, using social needs data for care delivery and public health activities, or on the quality and usability of social needs data. Cybersecurity articles (n=10) focused on the use of HIE in response to cybersecurity threats and HIE design against cybersecurity threats.

Conclusions: The application and importance of AI/ML, social needs, and cybersecurity issues helps illustrate how far HIE has progressed from innovation to functioning as a foundational infrastructure technology for healthcare organizations and systems.